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“The humans are involved, too.” Jagger glanced at Commissioner Viewick, who gave a swift nod back. “And Cleo, I want you and Hunter heading up this team. This was your discovery. You make sure you’re on the right path.”

“Absolutely,” Cleo said.

Hunter grimaced, but kept quiet. Nothing he could say would change Cleo’s mind. She was determined to be at the head of this dangerous mission.

“This is excellent news,” Jagger said with a satisfied grunt. “Victory and valor to you. Let’s destroy the Siblet plans once and for all.”

***

“You’re mad at me,”Hunter said.

Cleo balanced on the balls of her feet, binoculars in front of her eyes as she studied the barren landscape of the planet they’d landed on half an hour ago. “Focus on the mission.”

“You’ve barely said two words to me since the meeting with High Command.” Hunter stood beside her as he observed the landscape.

She blinked and drew in a slow breath. Even though she was wired from the excitement of the mission, her eyes were gritty with tiredness. “That’s because I’m doing my job. You need to do yours, too.”

“You’re angry with me because I tried to stop you coming here.”

She was. Cleo had been so pissed with Hunter that she’d had to get away from him before she’d yelled in front of the rest of the crew. He had no right to stand in her way and stop her from doing this. This was her mission. She’d made the discovery, and would be a big part in ending the Siblet activities.

“I don’t want you in danger,” Hunter said softly.

“This is an observation mission. They’re rarely dangerous. And since we’ve arrived, we’ve seen exactly nothing.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Are you thinking your calculations were wrong? This isn’t a Siblet base?”

“It never pays to be too cocky. I was best guessing that this could be one of their locations. After all, it fits the profile of previous sites they’ve used for their experiments.”

“They’re moving around more frequently since they know they’ve got the Apexians on their backs. But it makes sense this could be their next base of operations.”

Hunter went quiet again, but Cleo sensed him hovering. She tried to block him out, but there was no getting away from the fact she had a hot Apexian watching her every move.

“I want this to end, too,” he said. “I wasn’t blocking the plan because I thought you were wrong.”

Cleo hissed out a breath. “I know. Stop talking about it and focus on the job.” She shouldn’t snap, but she’d felt small and insignificant. Mainly because of the way Commissioner Viewick talked about her, but Hunter hadn’t helped. Maybe he had been watching her back, trying to keep her safe and out of harm, but doing that made it seem like she wasn’t good enough to do her job.

And Cleo knew damn well she was. She’d make this mission a success, and she wasn’t letting an overly protective Apexian and a jumped up commissioner tell her otherwise. She’d prove herself worthy. She was more than an admin drone and meeting fodder.

“I’ll make it up to you,” Hunter said.

“Make it up to me by making sure this is a success.”

“Yes, boss. Whatever you need.”

The disappointment ringing through his voice nudged at her heart, but Cleo shoved it away. She was angry with Hunter and didn’t need him pulling the overprotective card. Maybe she was tired and needed a break, but that was her decision to make.

And even though Hunter said he wanted her as his mate, she didn’t want him. She didn’t need that kind of domineering jerk move in her life.

The shared comm link attached to her ear activated.

“We’ve just spotted a ship, inbound.” It was Eden. “It’s one large Siblet ship. It’s preparing to land.”

Excitement flickered through Cleo’s belly. “I knew they couldn’t resist such a tempting target. Is it just a single ship? No other support vessels.”

“There’s no one else around,” Eden said. “They should land in the next twenty minutes. I’ll send through the coordinates.”

A few seconds later, the information flashed onto the tablet in front of Cleo.